Presence information is very helpful in determining the availability of a person. For example, presence information is commonly used in internet messaging. If a person is available to communicate via the internet, a status reflecting an availability to communicate is published to other internet users. In the alternative, if the person is unavailable to communicate, an unavailability status is published. In more complex scenarios, presence information may be used to reflect the availability of a person at anytime and anywhere. For instance, presence information may be used concurrently with personal applications, such as personal calendars and/or schedulers. If a person is at a scheduled activity, such as a meeting, the presence information of the person may be automatically set to show that the person is unavailable to communicate. After the scheduled activity has ended, the presence information may automatically switch to an available status.
In a perfect world, the schedule of a person reflects when the person is or is not available; however, in reality, the schedule of a person is rarely a true representation of a person's availability. For example, scheduled activities do not always begin and end on time. Furthermore, the schedule of a person does not account for breaks in a scheduled activity and/or when the person decides to temporarily or permanently leave the scheduled activity. These periods of time at which a person is not present at a scheduled activity may be important windows of opportunity to communicate with the person. For example, an individual may want to contact the person with an important message via voice, video, and/or text. At the same time, the individual may not want to interrupt the person during an important scheduled activity (e.g., a high-level meeting, a funeral, etc.). Conventional techniques do not address periods of availability which may occur during scheduled activities.